Likely rabid animal not believed to be one that struck in Midtown

09:16 AM MST on Thursday, January 8, 2004

By Thomas Stauffer and Eric Swedlund
© 2003 ARIZONA DAILY STAR

A worker at a Foothills resort was attacked by a bobcat Tuesday morning, the second attack in as many days by what appear to have been rabid bobcats.

State health officials say a rabies outbreak in gray foxes in Southern Arizona is probably to blame.

Rabies is a constant presence in Arizona, and outbreaks occur every year somewhere in the state, said Peter Cuneo, extension veterinarian for the University of Arizona's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

It just so happens that "it's Tucson's turn to see a rabies outbreak this year," said Craig Levy, program manager of the vector-borne disease sector of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

"It's the fox rabies that is driving this outbreak in the Tucson area, and this is not unusual at all," Levy said. "Unfortunately, there is not a lot you can do to stop it. Mother Nature will run her course, and it could last a few weeks or a few months."

The man attacked Tuesday, a worker at the Lodge at Ventana Canyon golf course, 6200 N. Club House Lane near Sabino Canyon, was trimming hedges when a bobcat jumped out of the bushes and knocked him down. The animal scratched and bit the man's leg in the brief attack before running away, said Elissa Ostergaard, urban wildlife specialist for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

The bobcat's bite broke the skin, and the man has started rabies shots, she said.

The other attack involved a man and a dog bitten Monday night in Midtown Tucson. Wildlife officials believe two bobcats are responsible for the attacks.

A field supervisor with Game and Fish recovered a dead bobcat found Wednesday morning by workers at the lodge.

"What I saw looked like an apparently heavy, healthy animal, and the coincidence of being found so close to that bite would lead me to suspect this animal died of rabies," said Hans Koenig of Game and Fish. "But even if it comes back positive for rabies, I still could not pin it down to being the exact animal that bit the employee."

Though it may well be the same animal that attacked the worker, it is not the bobcat that attacked a man and later a dog Monday night near North Swan Road and East Speedway, said Gerry Perry, Game and Fish regional supervisor.

"We believe this is a different bobcat because there's so much distance between the locations of the events," Perry said. "The actions of both cats are consistent with other cats we've tested positive for rabies. It's very likely both attacks involved rabid animals."

Game and Fish has been deluged with calls from the public about "rabid bobcats" since the two attacks, Koenig said.

"We've just been inundated with calls about what are most likely healthy bobcats," he said. "None of the calls I've received has anything to do with animals stricken with rabies."

Of the 75 cases of rabies confirmed by the state lab last year, four were bobcats, Levy said.

"Rabies in bobcats is not common, but it's really not uncommon either," he said. "When you get into a situation with outbreaks of fox rabies, you start to see that virus spill over into other animals."

The state lab recently confirmed rabies in a fox found at Saguaro National Park East, and there have also been two reports of attacks on people by foxes, Levy said.

After the onset of rabies symptoms, an animal generally dies within six days, and both bobcats were apparently very near death at the time of the attacks.

"The raging stage of rabies is generally in the terminal stage," Perry said.

It is likely the bobcat that attacked in Midtown is dead by now, Perry said. The last report of a bobcat sighting received by Tucson police was about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 4400 block of East Fort Lowell Road, but officers did not find an animal.

Perry said Game and Fish has not found the bobcat, and it likely crawled into some bushes to die.

Cuneo said he's never seen a rabid bobcat in his 15 years at the lab.

"Most of the animals we get are bats and skunks, though we did have three llamas from Camp Verde two years ago that had rabies," he said.

In the dry winter season, animals congregate near water, and disease is easily transmitted. Although the recent attacks may seem unusual, Perry said there have been several instances of rabid animals, mostly foxes, in the Chiricahua and Huachuca mountains southeast of Tucson.

"It's apparent there's an outbreak of disease sweeping through the mountain ranges near Tucson, and we may see more," Perry said.

Between 2 percent and 10 percent of animals brought in to Game and Fish in Pima County test positive for rabies, Ostergaard said.

In most of the incidents of bobcats' contracting rabies, the animals have tested positive for a strain that affects foxes and makes the animals very aggressive in the terminal stages, Perry said.

"The public ought to be aware this is happening and avoid animals that are acting sickly," he said. "If you see an animal, that's not a concern unless you see no fear of humans."

People should stay away from animals that behave strangely and should vaccinate their pets, he said.

"People need not panic about this," Levy said. "They do definitely need to take the appropriate precautions, but these are precautions they should be taking all the time."

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